RAIDERS_0564_fl.jpg; Raiders QB Rich Gannon was hurried by Steelers LB Clark Haggans which missed his target for a uncomplete pass in the 3rd quarter. The Pittsburg Steeler beat the Oakland Raiders 24-21 by a 42-yard field goal by Steelers Jeff Reed during the season openner at Heniz Field, Pittsburg, PA.
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9/12/04
San Francisco Chronicle Frederic Larson

The Raiders can't keep Rich Gannon out of the Coliseum's broadcast booth, so they want to lock the quarterback-turned-TV analyst out of the team facility in Alameda.

Team officials told CBS Sports they did not want Gannon to attend Saturday's television production meetings in advance of Sunday's Raiders-Broncos game, The Chronicle has learned, citing his public criticism of the organization in recent years.

"Rich Gannon is not welcome here," Raiders executive John Herrera said Friday when asked about the ban. "We told CBS we did not want him in our building, we did not want him to be part of our production meeting, and that's where it sits."

The Raiders also asked CBS to remove Gannon from Sunday's broadcast crew but the network declined. The team had previously asked CBS to remove Gannon from working their Nov. 30 game against the Chiefs last season to no avail.

"Rich Gannon is an objective and analytical broadcaster and he will be broadcasting the game as assigned by CBS," said LeslieAnne Wade, senior vice president of communications for CBS Sports.

Telling Gannon to stay away from team headquarters is a new wrinkle that may not be enforceable. League policy says teams must make the head coach and players available to the network television crew for production meetings.

"It is not permitted under league policy regarding cooperation with our network partners," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said when asked if the Raiders could ban Gannon from the production meetings.

Attempts to reach Gannon for comment through CBS Sports were not successful.

After 12 nondescript seasons, Gannon's career bloomed late when he signed with the Raiders in 1999. He led the Raiders to three straight playoff berths and a Super Bowl XXXVII appearance.

He was voted the league MVP in 2002, made four straight Pro Bowls and was on three All-Pro teams before retiring before the 2005 season.

Gannon went straight into broadcasting, and that's where his relationship with the Raiders became more strained by the season, according to Herrera.

"He's attacked us on a regular basis since becoming a member of the media," Herrera said. "After affording him the opportunity to establish a career here, he has since gone on to attack us in a way that's totally unacceptable."

Herrera quoted Gannon as saying in several interviews they should just "blow up the building and start over" in Oakland. Team officials took that as literally as they did figuratively, and told Gannon as much before last season's home game against the Chiefs.

"We think in a post 9/11 world, that's not a very proper thing to say," Herrera said. "It's uncalled for. He seems to be a guy who can't get over the fact that he played the worst Super Bowl game in the history of the game and he wants to blame everybody but himself.

"I guess it's our fault he threw five interceptions."

Gannon has, indeed, talked often about the "dysfunction" within the Raiders organization, but he's tempered his criticism in recent months.

Earlier this week, he gave a detailed critique of quarterback JaMarcus Russell's accuracy problems and gave coach Tom Cable "a lot of credit" for the team's 1-1 start.

Local fans won't hear what Gannon has to say during Sunday's game, one way or another. The broadcast will be blacked out in the Bay Area because the game didn't sell out.